I received the following letter from Mychal Nemetchek, which I am posting below.

I am a young woman struggling with my christian faith. There are so many troubling issues portrayed in the Bible such as God commanding the Israelites of the Old Testament to murder entire nations, the harsh punishments called for for disobeying such laws as a married couple not being allowed to have sex while she is menstruating, and most definitely the blatant inequality of the sexes. For me, finding answers to these questions have been a matter of keeping or losing my faith. I have found it very difficult to reconcile my ideas of a loving god with these issues.

I am encouraged that religious thinkers like Rollston are coming out as supporters of gender equality (while some stay back in the dark ages and hold to the greatly offensive position the Bible portrays of women and their value). I also find it comforting that these thinkers are able to reconcile their 21st century belief in gender equality with their christianity. If they can do it, perhaps there is a way.

So many christians sweep these issues under the rug. And honestly, if I hadn’t been able to find people who were willing to face up to these difficult topics and discuss them openly without trying to gloss them over (as I encountered with my pastors and teachers) I would likely not be able to call myself a christian right now.

So I want to say thank-you to Rollston, along with many other open, open-minded, non-defensive christian thinkers. Thank-you for finding a way to understand God and the Bible that provides a way for progressives to accept Christ, accept God, without having to give up their progressive values.